Temperature detecting apparatus, substrate processing apparatus and method of manufacturing semiconductor device

ABSTRACT

A temperature detecting apparatus is provided which is capable of suppressing disconnection of a thermocouple wire or positional deviation of a thermocouple junction portion caused by change over time. The temperature detecting apparatus includes: an insulation rod installed to extend in a vertical direction and including a through-hole in vertical direction; a thermocouple wire inserted in the through-hole of the insulation rod, the thermocouple wire including a thermocouple junction portion at an upper end thereof and an angled portion at a lower end of the insulation rod; and a buffer area installed below the insulation rod and configured to suppress a restriction of a horizontal portion of the angled portion upon heat expansion, wherein an upper portion of the thermocouple wire or a middle portion in the vertical direction are supported by the insulation rod.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This U.S. non-provisional patent application is a continuationapplication of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/536,418 filed Jun.28, 2012 and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of Japanese PatentApplication No. 2011-154941 filed on Jul. 13, 2011 and Japanese PatentApplication No. 2012-093663 and Apr. 17, 2012, in the Japanese PatentOffice, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a heat treatment technique by which asubstrate to be processed is accommodated in a processing chamber andprocessing is performed in a heated state by a heater. For example, thepresent invention relates to a temperature detecting apparatus, asubstrate processing apparatus and a method of manufacturing asemiconductor device, which are used for performing heat treatment on asemiconductor substrate (for example, a semiconductor wafer) on which asemiconductor integrated circuit device (hereinafter referred to as“IC”) is fabricated, such as oxidation processing or diffusionprocessing, or reflow processing or annealing processing for activationor planarization of a carrier after ions have been implanted, or filmforming processing by thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reaction.

2. Description of the Related Art

In manufacturing an IC, a batch type vertical heat treatment apparatusis widely used in order to heat-treat a substrate. In a processingfurnace of the heat treatment apparatus of the related art, a boat onwhich a plurality of wafers are mounted is inserted from a lower portionthereof in a vertical reaction tube of a substantially cylindrical shapewith its upper end closed and its lower end open and the wafers disposedon the boat are heat-treated by a heater installed so as to surround anoutside of the reaction tube. The plurality of wafers are in ahorizontal posture on the boat, and stacked and held in a multi-stage ata state aligned to a center of each wafer. A soaking tube of asubstantially cylindrical shape with its upper end closed and its lowerend open is installed between the reaction tube and the heater. Thesoaking tube is formed uniformly so that heat radiated form the heaterto the wafer does not vary depending on a position.

A temperature detecting tube for detecting a temperature is installedbetween the soaking tube and the reaction tube, and an output of theheater, that is, a temperature of the wafer is controlled to apredetermined temperature based on a temperature detected by thetemperature detecting tube. A thermocouple, which is a temperaturedetection device, is inserted into an inside of the temperaturedetecting tube and the thermocouple is connected to a temperaturecontrol portion through a signal line. In a vertical heat treatmentfurnace including a reaction tube and a heater, a technique ofinstalling a thermocouple for detecting a temperature of the processingfurnace has been disclosed (see Japanese Patent Unexamined ApplicationNo. 2009-117618).

A method of installing a thermocouple in the related art will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 12 to 15. FIG. 12 is a diagramillustrating a structure of a thermocouple of the related art, and thethermocouple between a reaction tube and a soaking tube is viewed from acenter of a processing furnace. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view takenalong line A-A of FIG. 12, and a horizontal sectional view of thethermocouple. FIG. 14 is a vertical sectional view viewed from the sideof the thermocouple of FIG. 12. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating asupport state of a thermocouple of the related art. In an example ofFIG. 12, there are five thermocouples, that is, a first thermocoupleincluding a thermocouple junction portion 423 a, a second thermocoupleincluding a thermocouple junction portion 423 b, a third thermocoupleincluding a thermocouple junction portion 423 c, a fourth thermocoupleincluding a thermocouple junction portion 423 d, and a fifththermocouple including a thermocouple junction portion 423 e. The firstthermocouple and the fourth thermocouple are inserted into a protectiontube 431 a, the second thermocouple and the fifth thermocouple areinserted into a protection tube 431 b, and the third thermocouple isinserted into a protection tube 431 c.

The first thermocouple is for temperature detection of an uppermostheater (U zone heater) of the processing furnace, the secondthermocouple is for temperature detection of a heater (CU zone heater)immediately below the U zone heater, the third thermocouple is fortemperature detection of a heater (C zone heater) immediately below theCU zone heater, the fourth thermocouple is for temperature detection ofa heater (CL zone heater) immediately below the C zone heater, and thefifth thermocouple is for temperature detection of a lowermost heater (Lzone heater) of the processing furnace.

As shown in FIG. 13, which is a cross-sectional view taken along lineA-A of FIG. 12, the fourth thermocouple is located at the front (acentral side of the processing furnace) in the protection tube 431 a,and the first thermocouple is located at the rear. In addition, thefifth thermocouple is located at the front in the protection tube 431 band the second thermocouple is located at the rear. The cross section ofan insulation rod 432 a of the first thermocouple is elliptical, twoholes penetrate through the cross section, and a thermocouple wire 421 aof a plus side and a thermocouple wire 422 a of a minus side are eachinserted and accommodated into the two holes. Insulation rods 432 b to432 e of the second thermocouple to the fifth thermocouple are also thesame. The thermocouple wire is a wire part of the thermocouple thatconverts a temperature to a thermal electromotive force.

The first thermocouple is configured to include the thermocouple wire421 a of the plus side and the thermocouple wire 422 a of the minusside, the thermocouple junction portion 423 a in which the thermocouplewire 421 a and the thermocouple wire 422 a are jointed at a front endportion thereof, the insulation rod 432 a for insulating thethermocouple wire 421 a and the thermocouple wire 422 a from each other,and a cap 434 a for closing an upper end of the insulation rod 432 a.

FIG. 14 is a side view of the first thermocouple. As shown in FIG. 14,in the thermocouple wire 421 a and the thermocouple wire 422 a (thethermocouple wire 422 a is not shown), an inside of a soaking tube 221extends in a vertical direction, and the thermocouple junction portion423 a is installed on upper ends thereof. In order to avoid a shortcircuit, the thermocouple wire 421 a and the thermocouple wire 422 a areeach accommodated in the two holes of the insulation rod 432 a. The cap434 a is installed on the upper end of the insulation rod 432 a so as toseal the thermocouple junction portion 423 a. The insulation rod 432 ais inserted into the protection tube 431 a, and the lower portion of theprotection tube 431 a is fixed by a protection tube holder 436. Inaddition, the lower portion of the insulation rod 432 a extending in thevertical direction is in contact with the insulation rod 433 a extendingin the horizontal direction, and the insulation rod 433 a is fixed bythe protection tube holder 436. The thermocouple wire 421 a and thethermocouple wire 422 a, which pass through the inside of the insulationrod 432 a in the vertical direction, turn 90° from the lower end of theinsulation rod 432 a and pass through the inside of the insulation rod433 a in a horizontal direction to be connected to a temperature controlportion (not shown).

Similar to the first thermocouple, the second thermocouple is configuredto include a thermocouple wire 421 b of a plus side and a thermocouplewire 422 b of a minus side, the thermocouple junction portion 423 b inwhich the thermocouple wire 421 b and the thermocouple wire 422 b arejointed at a front end portion thereof, the insulation rod 432 b forinsulating the thermocouple wire 421 b and the thermocouple wire 422 bfrom each other, and a cap 434 b for closing an upper end of theinsulation rod 432 b. The third thermocouple is configured to include athermocouple wire 421 c of a plus side and a thermocouple wire 422 c ofa minus side, the thermocouple junction portion 423 c in which thethermocouple wire 421 c and the thermocouple wire 422 c are jointed at afront end portion thereof, the insulation rod 432 c for insulating thethermocouple wire 421 c and the thermocouple wire 422 c from each other,and a cap 434 c for closing an upper end of the insulation rod 432 c.The fourth thermocouple is configured to include a thermocouple wire 421d of a plus side and a thermocouple wire 422 d of a minus side, thethermocouple junction portion 423 d in which the thermocouple wire 421 dand the thermocouple wire 422 d are jointed at a front end portionthereof, the insulation rod 432 d for insulating the thermocouple wire421 d and the thermocouple wire 422 d from each other, and a cap 434 dfor closing an upper end of the insulation rod 432 d. The fifththermocouple is configured to include a thermocouple wire 421 e of aplus side and a thermocouple wire 422 e of a minus side, thethermocouple junction portion 423 e in which the thermocouple wire 421 eand the thermocouple wire 422 e are jointed at a front end portionthereof, the insulation rod 432 e for insulating the thermocouple wire421 e and the thermocouple wire 422 e from each other, and a cap 434 efor closing an upper end of the insulation rod 432 e.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 15, in the related art, a thermocouplewire 421 of a plus side and a thermocouple wire 422 of a minus side arefixed by a thermocouple wire support portion 424 disposed therebelow.More specifically, the thermocouple wire 421 and the thermocouple wire422 are bent to have an L shape in an L-shaped portion including aninsulation rod 432 and an insulation rod 433. Accordingly, the lowerportions of the thermocouple wire 421 and the thermocouple wire 422 aresubstantially fixed in the vertical direction. In addition, thethermocouple wires 421 a to 421 e are collectively referred to as thethermocouple wire 421, the thermocouple wires 422 a to 422 e as thethermocouple wire 422, the thermocouple junction portions 423 a to 423 eas the thermocouple junction portion 423, the insulation rods 432 a to432 e as the insulation rod 432, the insulation rods 433 a to 433 e asthe insulation rod 433, and the caps 434 a to 434 e as the cap 434.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an expansion and contraction state ofa thermocouple of the related art, FIG. 16 a represents a standby state(500° C.) before heat treatment, FIG. 16 b represents a process state(1200° C.) during heat treatment, and FIG. 16 c represents a standbystate (500° C.) after heat treatment. When the standby state of FIG. 16a comes to the heat treatment state of FIG. 16 b, the thermocouple wires421 and 422 and the insulation rod 432 are heat-expanded, and thethermocouple wires protrude from the upper end of the insulation rod432, such that the thermocouple wires 421 and 422 are lengthened by ΔL.Since the protrusion amount ΔL is determined by an expansion differencebetween the thermocouple wires 421 and 422 and the insulation rod 432,an insulation rod material of a small expansion difference is selected.When the heat treatment state of FIG. 16 b comes to the standby state ofFIG. 16 c, the thermocouple wires 421 and 422 are heat contracted, suchthat the thermocouple wires 421 and 422 are shortened by ΔL to thusreturn to an original length.

When heat expansion and heat contraction are repeated, a displacement orentanglement in grain boundaries of the thermocouple wire 421 or 422occurs due to a self-weight of the thermocouple wire 421 or 422, or achange over time such as a frictional force with the insulation rod 432.The displacement of grain boundaries means that crystal grains of thethermocouple wire 421 or 422 are bloated by heat treatment, and thusgrain boundaries between adjacent grains are deviated by stress due tothe heat expansion and heat contraction. FIG. 17 is a diagramillustrating a state in which a thermocouple of the related art isbroken, FIG. 17 a illustrates a standby state, and FIG. 17 b illustratesheat treatment state. When the standby state of FIG. 17 a and the heattreatment state of FIG. 17 b are repeated, a wire deformation portion411 is generated, for example, because the thermocouple wire 422 isstretched, and a frictional force with the insulation rod 432 isincreased. In addition, the insulation rod 432 is spaced upwardly fromthe insulation rod 433. In addition, when changes progress over time, asshown in FIG. 17 c, during the heat contraction, a binding force inwhich the thermocouple wire 422 is bound to the insulation rod 432become stronger, and thus tensile stress to the thermocouple wire 421increases. Eventually, the tensile strength of the thermocouple wire 422becomes excessive, and thus the thermocouple wire 421 is disconnected ina disconnection portion 412.

In addition, in the thermocouple installing method of the related art,as described above, since the lower portion of the thermocouple wire 421or 422 is fixed, the position of the thermocouple junction portion 423,that is, the temperature measurement position is significantly changedby the heat expansion of the thermocouple wire 421 or 422. For example,when a length of the thermocouple wire is 1,500 mm and an ambienttemperature is about 1,200° C., the temperature measurement position isshifted by about 19 mm. For this reason, accurate temperaturemeasurement is difficult, and appropriate temperature control is noteasy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a temperaturedetecting apparatus or a substrate processing apparatus capable ofsuppressing disconnection of a thermocouple wire or positional deviationof a thermocouple junction portion caused by change over time.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided atemperature detecting apparatus including: an insulation rod installedto extend in a vertical direction and including a through-hole invertical direction; a thermocouple wire inserted in the through-hole ofthe insulation rod, the thermocouple wire including a thermocouplejunction portion at an upper end thereof and an angled portion at alower end of the insulation rod; and a buffer area installed below theinsulation rod and configured to suppress a restriction of a horizontalportion of the angled portion upon heat expansion, wherein an upperportion of the thermocouple wire or a middle portion in the verticaldirection are supported by the insulation rod.

According to the configuration, disconnection of a thermocouple wire orpositional deviation of a thermocouple junction portion caused by changeover time can be suppressed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an oblique perspective view of a substrate processingapparatus in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a processing furnace in anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a support state of a thermocouple in afirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a structure of the thermocouple in thefirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the thermocouple of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a support state of a thermocouple in asecond embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a structure of the thermocouple in thesecond embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an expansion and contraction state ofthe thermocouple in the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a support state of a thermocouple in athird embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a structure of the thermocouple in thethird embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a horizontal sectional view of the thermocouple of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a thermocouple of therelated art;

FIG. 13 is a horizontal sectional view of the thermocouple of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a vertical sectional view seen from a side of thethermocouple of FIG. 12;

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a support state of the thermocouple ofthe related art;

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an expansion and contraction state ofthe thermocouple of the related art;

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the thermocouple ofthe related art is broken;

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a support state of a thermocouple in afourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a structure of thethermocouple in the fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a horizontal sectional view of the thermocouple of FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating another example of the structure ofthe thermocouple in the fourth embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 22 is an exemplary flowchart of a method of manufacturing asemiconductor substrate device or a substrate processing methodaccording to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment ofthe Present Invention

In the first embodiment of the present invention, as one process inmanufacturing processes of a semiconductor device (such as an IC), aconfiguration example of a substrate processing apparatus that performsa substrate processing process by heat treatment will be described withreference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is an oblique perspective view of asubstrate processing apparatus in first to fourth embodiments of thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a substrate processing apparatus10 according to each embodiment of the present invention includes ahousing 101. In addition, in each embodiment of the present invention,in order to transfer a wafer 200, which is a substrate formed ofsilicon, into and out of the housing 101, a cassette 110 is used as awafer carrier (substrate accommodating unit).

A cassette stage 105 is installed on a front side of the housing 101.The cassette 110 is loaded and placed on the cassette stage 105, andunloaded from the cassette stage 105 to the outside of the housing 101,by a transfer device (not shown) in a process outside the housing. Acassette shelf 114 is substantially installed at an approximatelycentral portion in the housing 101 in the front to rear direction. Thecassette shelf 114 stores a plurality of cassettes 110. A transfer shelf123, which is a part of the cassette shelf 114, is installed, and thecassette 110, which is a transfer target of a wafer transfer mechanism112 to be described later, is accommodated on the transfer shelf 123.The cassette transfer device 115 is installed between the cassette stage105 and the cassette shelf 114. The cassette transfer device 115transfers the cassette 110 among the cassette stage 105, the cassetteshelf 114 and the transfer shelf 123.

The wafer transfer mechanism 112 is installed at a rear of the cassetteshelf 114. The wafer transfer mechanism 112 accommodates the wafer 200in the cassette 110 on the transfer shelf 123 by charging the wafer 200in a boat 217 (substrate holding unit) to be described later, ordischarging the wafer 200 from the boat 217 after the wafer 200 ispicked up from the cassette 110 on the transfer shelf 123.

A processing furnace 202 is installed at a rear upper part of thehousing 10. A lower end portion of the processing furnace 202 isconfigured to be closed and opened by a furnace throat shutter 116. Aconfiguration of the processing furnace 202 will be described later. Aboat elevator 115 is installed at a lower part of the processing furnace202 as an elevating mechanism to transport the boat to the inside or theoutside of the processing furnace 202 by elevating the boat 217. An arm122 is installed as an elevating stand on the boat elevator 121. A sealcap 219 is installed on the arm 122 in a horizontal posture. The sealcap 219 supports the boat 217 in a vertical direction and functions as acover for tightly closing the lower end portion of the processingfurnace 202 when the boat 217 is elevated by the boat elevator 121. Aconfiguration of the boat 217 will be described later.

(Configuration of Processing Furnace)

Subsequently, a configuration of the processing furnace 202 according tothe first to fourth embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional viewof a processing furnace of a substrate processing apparatus. In thisembodiment, the processing furnace 202 is configured as a heat treatmentfurnace having a batch type vertical hot wall form.

(Reaction Tube and Soaking Tube)

The processing furnace 202 includes a vertical type reaction tube 222 atthe inside of thereof. The reaction tube 222 has a substantiallycylindrical shape with its upper end closed and its lower end open, andis disposed in a vertical direction so that the opened lower end facesthe lower portion and the central line of the cylindrical direction isvertical. A processing chamber 204 is disposed in the reaction tube 222to process a plurality of wafers 200 by accommodating the wafers 200,which are stacked in a multi-stage in the horizontal posture by the boat217 as a substrate holding unit. An inner diameter of the reaction tube222 is set to be larger than a maximum outer diameter of the boat 217holding a group of the wafers 200. In this example, the reaction tube222 is integrally molded in a substantially cylindrical shape of amaterial having high heat resistance such as quartz (SiO₂) or siliconcarbide (SiC).

A soaking tube 221, which is to uniformize heat radiated form a heaterunit 208 to be described later to the reaction tube 222, is installed onthe outside of the reaction tube 222. The soaking tube 221 has asubstantially cylindrical shape with its upper end closed and its lowerend open, and is disposed in a vertical direction so that the openedlower end faces the lower portion and the central line of thecylindrical direction is vertical, similar to the reaction tube 222. Thesoaking tube 221 is larger than the reaction tube 222 and has a shapesubstantially similar to the reaction tube 222 to cover the reactiontube 222 concentrically so as to surround the outside of the reactiontube 222. The lower end portion of the soaking tube 221 is supported bya base 209 made of a metal material that is a part of the housing 101.In this example, the soaking tube 221 is integrally molded in asubstantially cylindrical shape of a material having high heatresistance such as quartz (SiO₂) or silicon carbide (SiC).

The lower end portion of the reaction tube 222 is tightly sealed by amanifold 206 in which a horizontal cross section has a substantiallycircular ring shape. For maintenance work and cleaning work, thereaction tube 222 is detachably installed on the manifold 206. Since themanifold 206 is supported by the housing 101, the reaction tube 222 isinstalled in the housing 101 in the vertical direction. A lower endopening of the manifold 206 constitutes a furnace throat 205 forinserting or removing the boat 217 holding the group of the wafers 200.

(Substrate Holding Unit)

The manifold 206 is in contact with a seal cap 29 for closing the lowerend opening of the manifold 206 from a vertical lower part. The seal cap219 is formed in a disk shape having an outer diameter equal to orgreater than that of the reaction tube 222 and configured to be elevatedin the vertical direction, while the disk shape is maintained in thehorizontal posture by the boat elevator 121 installed on the outside ofthe reaction tube 222 in the vertical direction. The boat 217 as thesubstrate holding unit holding the wafers 200 is supported on the sealcap 219 in the vertical direction. The boat 217 includes a pair of topand bottom end plates and a plurality of, in this example, three, waferholding members (boat prop) installed across both of the plates in thevertical direction. The end plates and the wafer holding members aremade of a material having high heat resistance such as quartz (SiO₂) orsilicon carbide (SiC), for example.

A plurality of holding grooves engraved in the horizontal direction areinstalled in each wafer holding member at regular intervals across thelongitudinal direction. Each wafer holding member is installed such thatholding grooves are opposite to each other and vertical positions(vertical direction position) of the holding groove of each waferholding member are matched. The peripheries of the wafer 200 areinserted into the holding grooves of the same stage in the plurality ofwafer holding members and thus, the plurality of wafers 200 (forexample, about 50 to 150) are in a horizontal posture and stacked andheld in a multi-stage and in a vertical direction in a state in whichcenters of the wafers are aligned each other.

In addition, a heat insulating cylinder 210 is installed between theboat 217 and the seal cap 219. The heat insulating cylinder 210 is madeof a material having high heat resistance such as quartz (SiO₂) orsilicon carbide (SiC), for example. By the heat insulating cylinder 210,heat transferred from the heater unit 208 to the manifold 206 side canbe suppressed, as described later.

A boat rotation mechanism 237 rotating the boat 217 is installed on alower part (on the opposite side of the processing chamber 204) of theseal cap 219. A boat rotating shaft of the boat rotation mechanism 237supports the boat 217 from a lower portion thereof through the seal cap219. By rotating the boat rotating shaft, the wafers 200 can rotate inthe processing chamber 204. The seal cap 219 is configured to beelevated by the above-described boat elevator 121 in the verticaldirection, and thus the boat 217 can be transferred to the inside andoutside of the processing chamber 204. The boat rotation mechanism 237and the boat elevator 121 are electrically connected to a control unit280. The control unit 280 controls the boat rotation mechanism 237 andthe boat elevator 121 so as to perform a desired operation at a desiredtiming.

(Heater Unit)

The heater unit 208, as a heating mechanism which entirely heats theinside of the reaction tube 222 uniformly or at a predeterminedtemperature distribution, is installed on the outside of the soakingtube 221 to surround the soaking tube 221. The heater unit 208 isvertically installed by being supported on the housing 101 of thesubstrate processing apparatus 10, for example, configured to include aresistance heating heater such as a carbon heater.

(Temperature Detecting Apparatus)

A protection tube 31, which protects a built-in thermocouple of atemperature measuring device, is installed to extend between the soakingtube 221 and the reaction tube 222 in a vertical direction. The lowerend of the protection tube 31 is supported and fixed by a protectiontube holder 36. The protection tube 31 has a cylindrical shape and ismade of a material having high heat resistance such as silicon carbide(SIC) to a length of about 1,500 mm and an outer diameter of about 8 mm,and the upper end thereof can be closed and the lower end includes anopening portion. An insulation rod that accommodates the thermocouplewire is inserted through the opening portion. Thus, the thermocouplewire is configured not to be spread by pollutant from the insulation rodor the thermocouple, while being exposed to corrosive gas. Theinsulation rod or the thermocouple wire will be described later. Theprotection tube holder 36 is made of alumina or stainless and the likeand includes a vertical part that supports the protection tube 31, and ahorizontal part into which a thermocouple wire is inserted and guided tothe outside of the processing chamber 204.

Atmospheric air is circulated through a space between the soaking tube221 and the reaction tube 222 and the space is tightly separated fromthe inside of the processing chamber 204. In addition, the space isconfigured as a structure in which the processing gas does not penetrateinto the space and air in the space between the soaking tube 221 and thereaction tube 222 does not penetrate into the processing chamber 204.The heater unit 208 and thermocouple are electrically connected to thecontrol unit. The control unit 280 controls electric power to the heaterunit 208, such that a temperature of the inside of the processingchamber 204 may be distributed at a desired timing and a desiredtemperature based on a temperature detected by thermocouple.

In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the thermocouple wire 21and the upper end of the thermocouple wire 22 are supported in thethermocouple wire support portion 24. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating asupport state of a thermocouple in a first embodiment of the presentinvention. The thermocouple wire support portion 24 is an upper end 32 kof a wall portion between two through-holes installed in an insulationrod 32 to be descried later in order for the thermocouple wires 21 and22 to pass therethrough. In addition, even upon heat expansion, a lowerportion of the thermocouple wire is maintained in a free state in whichthe lower portion is not bound. By this configuration, upon heatexpansion, since the thermocouple wire 21 and the thermocouple wire 22can maintain a linear shape by a self-weight, partially bending orreceiving a binding force can be suppressed. As a result, a largefrictional force generated between the thermocouple wires 21 and 22 andthe insulation rod 32 can be suppressed. This configuration will bedescribed in detail below.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a temperature detectingapparatus in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 a isa diagram in which a thermocouple between a reaction tube and a soakingtube is viewed from a center of the processing furnace. FIG. 4 b is avertical cross-sectional view of the temperature detecting apparatus ofFIG. 4 a from a side thereof. FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional viewtaken along A-A of FIG. 4. In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4a, there are three protection tubes of the thermocouple, that is, aprotection tube 31 a, a protection tube 31 b, and a protection tube 31c. A lower end of each protection tube is supported by the protectiontube holder 36. More specifically, the protection tube holder 36 isfixed to the substrate processing apparatus 10 of the housing 101through a part, and the protection tube 31 is inserted and fixedthereinto to be held upright.

In addition, the thermocouple wire 21 of a plus side and thethermocouple wire 22 of a minus side are accommodated, and theinsulation rod 32 for insulating the thermocouple wires 21 and 22 fromeach other is inserted in each protection tube 31 one by one. As shownin FIGS. 4 a and 4 b, the lower end of the insulation rod 32 is insertedand supported in the insulation rod stopper 33. The lower end of theinsulation rod stopper 33 is supported by a bottom portion of theprotection tube holder 36. Materials of the insulation rod 32 and theinsulation rod stopper 33 are, for example, alumina. Materials of thethermocouple wire 21 of the plus side and the thermocouple wire 22 ofthe minus side are, for example, a platinum-rhodium alloy and platinum,respectively.

In addition, protection tubes 31 a to 31 c are collectively referred toas the protection tube 31. Meanwhile, as described later, thermocouplewires 21 a to 21 e are collectively referred to as the thermocouple wire21, thermocouple wires 22 a to 22 e as the thermocouple wire 22,thermocouple junction portions 23 a to 23 e as the thermocouple junctionportion 23, insulation rods 32 a to 32 c as the insulation rod 32,insulation rod stoppers 33 a to 33 c as the insulation rod stopper 33,and caps 34 a to 34 c as the cap 34.

In the first embodiment, the thermocouple is disposed on five zoneheaters of the processing furnace, respectively. The first thermocoupleis for temperature detection of the uppermost heater (U zone heater) ofthe processing furnace, the second thermocouple is for temperaturedetection of the heater (CU zone heater) immediately below the U zoneheater, the third thermocouple is for temperature detection of theheater (C zone heater) immediately below the CU zone heater, the fourththermocouple is for temperature detection of the heater (CL zone heater)immediately below the C zone heater, and the fifth thermocouple is fortemperature detection of the lowermost heater (L zone heater) of theprocessing furnace.

The first temperature detecting apparatus including the firstthermocouple is configured to include the thermocouple wire 21 a of theplus side and the thermocouple wire 22 a of the minus side, thethermocouple junction portion 23 a in which the thermocouple wire 21 aand the thermocouple wire 22 a are jointed at the front end portionthereof, the insulation rod 32 a for insulating the thermocouple wires21 a and 22 a from each other, the cap 34 a for closing the upper end ofthe insulation rod 32 a, the insulation rod stopper 33 a, the protectiontube 31 a, and the protection tube holder 36. The second temperaturedetecting apparatus including the second thermocouple is configured toinclude a thermocouple wire 21 b of the plus side and a thermocouplewire 22 b of the minus side, a thermocouple junction portion 23 b inwhich the thermocouple wire 21 b and the thermocouple wire 22 b arejointed at the front end portion thereof, an insulation rod 32 b forinsulating the thermocouple wires 21 b and 22 b from each other, a cap34 b for closing the upper end of the insulation rod 32 b, an insulationrod stopper 33 b, the protection tube 31 b, and the protection tubeholder 36. The third temperature detecting apparatus including the thirdthermocouple is configured to include a thermocouple wire 21 d of theplus side and a thermocouple wire 22 d of the minus side, a thermocouplejunction portion 23 d in which the thermocouple wires 21 d and 22 d arejointed at the front end portion thereof, the insulation rod 32 a forinsulating the thermocouple wires 21 d and 22 d from each other, the cap34 a for closing the upper end of the insulation rod 32 a, theinsulation rod stopper 33 a, the protection tube 31 a, and theprotection tube holder 36. The fourth temperature detecting apparatusincluding the fourth thermocouple is configured to include athermocouple wire 21 e of the plus side and a thermocouple wire 22 e ofthe minus side, the thermocouple junction portion 23 d in which thethermocouple wires 21 e and 22 e are jointed at the front end portionthereof, the insulation rod 32 b for insulating the thermocouple wires21 e and 22 e from each other, the cap 34 b for closing the upper end ofthe insulation rod 32 b, the insulation rod stopper 33 b, the protectiontube 31 b, and the protection tube holder 36. The fifth temperaturedetecting apparatus including the fifth thermocouple is configured toinclude a thermocouple wire 21 c of the plus side and a thermocouplewire 22 c of the minus side, a thermocouple junction portion 23 c inwhich the thermocouple wires 21 c and 22 c are jointed at the front endportion thereof, the insulation rod 32 c for insulating the thermocouplewires 21 c and 22 c from each other, the cap 34 c for closing the upperend of the insulation rod 32 c, the insulation rod stopper 33 c, theprotection tube 31 c, and the protection tube holder 36.

Referring to FIG. 4 a, the thermocouple junction portion 23 a for thefirst thermocouple is disposed at a position of the cap 34 a of a frontend of the insulation rod 32 a, the thermocouple junction portion 23 bfor the second thermocouple is disposed at a position of the cap 34 b ofa front end of the insulation rod 32 b, the thermocouple junctionportion 23 d for the third thermocouple is disposed at a position of themiddle of the insulation rod 32 a, the thermocouple junction portion 23e for the fourth thermocouple is disposed at a position of the middle ofthe insulation rod 32 b, and the thermocouple junction portion 23 c forthe fifth thermocouple is disposed at the position of the cap 34 c ofthe front end of the insulation rod 32 c.

As shown in FIG. 4 or 5, the insulation rod 32 a is inserted in theprotection tube 31 a. The insulation rod 32 b is inserted in theprotection tube 31 b. The insulation rod 32 c is inserted in theprotection tube 31 c. In the protection tube holder 36, the lower end ofthe insulation rod 32 a is supported by the insulation rod stopper 33 a,the lower end of the insulation rod 32 b is supported by the insulationrod stopper 33 b, and the lower end of the insulation rod 32 c issupported by the insulation rod stopper 33 c.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cross section of the insulation rod 32 a iscircular, four holes penetrate the cross section, and the thermocouplewires 21 a and 22 a for the first thermocouple and the thermocouplewires 21 d and 22 d for the third thermocouple are inserted andaccommodated in the four holes. In addition, the cross section of theinsulation rod 32 b is circular, four holes penetrate the cross section,and the thermocouple wires 21 b and 22 b for the second thermocouple andthe thermocouple wires 21 e and 22 e for the fourth thermocouple areinserted and accommodated in the four holes. In addition, the crosssection of the insulation rod 32 c is circular, four holes penetrate thecross section, and the thermocouple wires 21 c and 22 c for the fifththermocouple are inserted and accommodated in the two holes of the fourholes.

As shown in FIG. 5, which is a cross sectional view taken along line A-Aof FIG. 4 a, the third thermocouple is located at the front (a centralside of the processing chamber 204) in the insulation rod 32 a, and thefirst thermocouple is located at the rear. In addition, the fourththermocouple is located at the front in the insulation rod 32 b and thesecond thermocouple is located at the rear.

FIG. 4 b is a side view of the protection tube 31 a or protection tubeholder 36 and is also a side view of the first thermocouple and thethird thermocouple. FIG. 4 c is a vertical cross-sectional enlarged viewnear the thermocouple junction portion 23 a of the first thermocouplelocated on the upper end of the insulation rod 32 a. FIG. 4 d is avertical cross-sectional enlarged view near the thermocouple junctionportion 23 d of the third thermocouple located on a middle of the upperand lower ends of the insulation rod 32 a. As shown in FIG. 4 c, in thethermocouple wire 21 a and the thermocouple wire 22 a (the thermocouplewire 22 a is not shown), an inside of the insulation rod 32 a extends inthe vertical direction and the thermocouple junction portion 23 a isinstalled on the upper end. A portion of the insulation rod 32 a inwhich the thermocouple junction portion 23 a is installed has acylindrical shape that leaves only an outer periphery of the insulationrod 32 a and the thermocouple junction portion 23 a is supported by anupper end (corresponding to 32 k of FIG. 3) of a wall portion of theinsulation rod 32 a at a boundary between a hole for the thermocouplewire 21 a and a hole for the thermocouple wire 22 a.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 4 d, in the thermocouple wire 21 d and thethermocouple wire 22 d (the thermocouple wire 22 d is not shown), aninside of the insulation rod 32 a extends in the vertical direction, andthe thermocouple junction portion 23 d is installed in a middle portionof the insulation rod 32 a located at the upper end thereof. A portionof the insulation rod 32 a in which the thermocouple junction portion 23d is installed has a shape in which a part of the outer periphery of theinsulation rod 32 a and a boundary between a hole for the thermocouplewire 21 d and a hole for the thermocouple wire 22 d are removed. Thethermocouple junction portion 23 d is supported by an upper end(corresponding to 32 k of FIG. 3) of a wall portion of the insulationrod 32 a at a boundary between a hole for the thermocouple wire 21 d anda hole for the thermocouple wire 22 d. The part of the outer peripheryof the insulation rod 32 a described above is a portion facing a centerside of the processing chamber 204.

As shown in FIG. 4 b, other ends of the thermocouple wire 21 a and thethermocouple wire 22 a and other ends of the thermocouple wire 21 d andthe thermocouple wire 22 d are output from the lower end of theinsulation rod 32 a in the vertical direction and inserted into the wireholding portion 35 in the horizontal direction to be connected to atemperature control portion (not shown) other than the processingchamber 204 in the protection tube holder 36 of a hollow structure. Thethermocouple wires are covered with heat resistant insulating tubes (forexample, a tube made of ceramic fiber or glass fiber, etc.) up to about800° C. in the protection tube holder 36 and thus are isolated from eachother. In addition, FIG. 4 b illustrates only the thermocouple wire 21d. However, since the thermocouple wires 22 d, 21 a and 22 a or thethermocouple wires 21 b, 22 b, 21 e and 22 e within the insulation rod32 b, or the thermocouple wires 21 c and a 22 c also are the same as thethermocouple wire 21 d, hereinafter, the thermocouple wire 21 d will bedescribed below.

After the thermocouple wire 21 d is output below from the lower end ofthe insulation rod 32 a in the vertical direction, the thermocouple wire21 d is changed in the horizontal direction, and is input from one end35 a of the wire holding portion 35 (a central side of the processingchamber 204) to the wire holding portion 35. A distance from the one end35 a to the bottom portion of the protection tube holder 36 ranges from10 mm to 15 mm. In addition, a buffer area 38 in which the thermocouplewire 21 d is not bound to the protection tube holder 36 upon heatexpansion is formed in the protection tube holder 36. A state in whichthe thermocouple wire 21 d is not bound to the protection tube holder 36means, for example, a state in which the thermocouple wire 21 d does notcome into a bottom portion of the protection tube holder 36 upon heatexpansion, or force leading to disconnection is not applied to thebottom portion even when in contact with the bottom portion. Theinsulation rod stopper 33 supports the bottom portion of the insulationrod 32 at a position higher than the buffer area 38, that is, at aposition higher than one end 35 a of the wire holding portion 35.Accordingly, a wider buffer area can be easily obtained. The insulationrod stopper 33 a may be configured such that the inside thereof ispenetrated in the vertical direction, and the thermocouple wire 21 dfrom the lower end of the insulation rod 32 a is guided to the bufferarea 38 through the through-hole. Thus, the thermocouple wire can easilymaintain the linear shape in the vertical direction, and the bindingforce received from the insulation rod stopper can be suppressed.

Accordingly, a position 35 a of the wire holding portion 35 input by thethermocouple wire 21 d and a position of the lower end of the insulationrod 32 output by the thermocouple wire 21 d are set to be equal to orgreater than about 10 mm from the bottom portion of the protection tubeholder 36. That is, it is supported at a position higher than the bufferarea 38 upon heat expansion. The thermocouple wire 21 d is in contactwith the bottom portion of the protection tube holder 36 and binding ofa force leading to disconnection can be suppressed. In FIG. 4 b, withinthe buffer area 38, the thermocouple wire 21 d is indicated by a solidline in a standby state (500° C.) before and after the heat treatment,and the thermocouple wire 21 d is indicated by dashed line in a processstate (1,200° C.) during the heat treatment.

In addition, the thermocouple wire 21 d is fixed by a ceramic adhesivein the wire holding portion 35. This is to be provided such that thethermocouple wire 21 d in the buffer area 38 does not to pull from theoutside of the processing chamber 204.

As described above, the thermocouple junction portion 23 is supported atthe upper end or the middle portion of the insulation rod 32, theinsulation rod 32 is supported by the insulation rod stopper 33, and theinsulation rod stopper 33 is supported by the protection tube holder 36.That is, the upper ends of the thermocouple wires 21 and 22 aresupported by the insulation rod 32 or the like. In addition, in thethermocouple wires 21 and 22, a portion output from the lower end of theinsulation rod 32 is in state in which it is not bound to the bottomportion or the like of the protection tube holder 36 in the buffer area38. Therefore, upon heat expansion, the thermocouple wires 21 and 22 canmaintain the linear shape by a self-weight, and partial bending can besuppressed. As a result, a large frictional force generated between thethermocouple wires 21 and 22 and the insulation rod 32 can be suppressedand disconnection of the thermocouple wires 21 and 22 can be suppressed.In addition, a linear expansion coefficient of the insulation rod 32 isadopted to be smaller than those of the thermocouple wires 21 and 22 andthus a change in the position, that is, a change in a temperaturemeasurement position, of the thermocouple junction portion 23 due toheat expansion can be reduced to be smaller than that of the relatedart. For example, a linear expansion coefficient of the insulation rod32 is 8.1×10⁻⁴/° C., a linear expansion coefficient of the thermocouplewire 21 is 10.2×10⁻⁴/° C., and a linear expansion coefficient of thethermocouple wire 22 is 10.6×10⁻⁴/° C.

(Gas Supply System)

A gas supply system will be described with reference to FIG. 2. As shownin FIG. 2, a gas nozzle 224 that supplies a processing gas into theprocessing chamber 204 is installed along a side wall of the reactiontube 222 and an opening portion 224 a is installed at an upper portionof the reaction tube 222. A processing gas supply pipe 225 is connectedto the gas nozzle 224. A processing gas supply unit 226 is connected tothe processing gas supply pipe 225. The processing gas supply unit 226includes a processing gas supply source that supplies the processinggas, a mass flow controller (MFC) as a flow control device, and anopening and closing valve, in order from an upstream side. Theprocessing gas supply unit is mainly configured to include the gasnozzle 224, the processing gas supply pipe 225, and the processing gassupply unit 226. The MFC or opening and closing valve of the processinggas supply unit 226 is electrically connected to the control unit 280.The control unit 280 controls the MFC and the opening and closing valvesuch that a type of gas to be supplied into the processing chamber 204may be supplied as a desired gas species at a desired timing, and flowto be supplied becomes a desired flow at a desired timing.

(Gas Exhaust System)

An exhaust pipe 231 that exhausts an atmosphere from an inside of theprocessing chamber 204 is connected to a part of a side wall of amanifold 206. A pressure sensor 236, as a pressure detector, and an autopressure controller (APC) valve 232, as a pressure regulator, areinstalled in the exhaust pipe 231 in order from an upstream side. Avacuum pump 234 is connected to downstream of the APC valve 232 throughan exhaust pipe 233 as a vacuum exhaust device. An exhaust portion thatexhausts gas from the reaction tube 222 is mainly configured to includethe exhaust pipe 231, the APC valve 232, and the vacuum pump 234. TheAPC valve 232 and the pressure sensor 236 are electrically connected tothe control unit 280. The control unit 280 controls an opening degree ofthe APC valve 232 such that a pressure within the processing chamber 204becomes a desired pressure at a desired timing, based on pressure valuesdetected by the pressure sensor 236.

(Controller)

A control unit 280 includes an operation portion or an input and outputportion, which is not shown, and is electrically connected to eachconfiguration portion of a substrate processing apparatus 10 to controleach configuration portion of the substrate processing apparatus 10. Thecontrol unit 280 commands temperature control or pressure control, flowcontrol and mechanical driving control based on a recipe that representsa control sequence of a process such as a film forming process on a timeaxis.

(Substrate Processing Operation According to this Embodiment)

Next, a substrate processing operation according to the embodiment ofthe present invention will be described as an example of a film formingprocess. FIG. 22 is an exemplary flowchart of a method of manufacturinga semiconductor substrate device or a substrate processing methodaccording to the present invention. The substrate processing operationis controlled by a controller 280. First, in wafer charging, wafers 200are loaded into a boat 217. A plurality of wafers 200 are loaded andaligned in parallel with each other horizontally and in a multi-stagewith their centers aligned while being charged in the boat 217. Next, ina boat loading step, a boat 217 that loads and holds the plurality ofwafers 200 are transported (boat loading) in the processing chamber 204(boat accommodating process, S100 of FIG. 22).

Subsequently, in a reduced pressure step, a pressure of an inside of areaction tube 222 is reduced to a predetermined vacuum degree by avacuum pump 234 through the exhaust pipe 231, and in a raisedtemperature step, a temperature of the inside of the reaction tube 222is elevated to a predetermined temperature by a heater unit 208, basedon a temperature measured by a temperature detecting apparatus (heatingprocess, S200 FIG. 22).

Next, in a film farming step, a predetermined source gas is suppliedinto a gas nozzle 224 and introduced into a processing chamber 204,while a boat 217 is rotated. A source gas introduced into the processingchamber 204 is flowed into the reaction tube 222, and exhausted throughan exhaust pipe 231 opened to a manifold 206. Thus, film forming ofsurfaces of the wafers 200 is accomplished by the source gas flowingparallel to a space between the wafers 200 that adjoin up and down,while the source gas is in contacted with the surface of the wafers 200(substrate processing process, S300 of FIG. 22).

After a desired film forming process is performed, supply of the sourcegas is stopped. In addition, after an inside of the processing chamber204 is returned to an atmospheric pressure by an inert gas, a seal cap219 is moved below and thus a lower end of the processing chamber 204 isopened, and a group of the wafers 200 processed in a state held in theboat 217 are transported (boat unloading) from the processing chamber204 to the outside thereof, in a boat unloading step (substrateunloading process, S400 of FIG. 22).

According to the first embodiment, at least one of the following effects(1) to (7) can be obtained. (1) The thermocouple wire is supported at anupper portion thereof, and a buffer area is provided below thethermocouple wire. Thus, since a lower portion of the thermocouple wireis not bound by a bottom portion or the like of other members, forexample, a protection tube holder, the thermocouple wire can maintain alinear shape by a self-weigh, partial bending can be suppressed, anddisconnection of the thermocouple wire can be suppressed. (2) Since aheight of a lower end of the insulation rod accommodating thethermocouple wire and a height of a wire holding portion fixing aportion of the thermocouple wire are set to be equal to or greater than10 mm from a bottom portion of the protection tube holder, a sufficientbuffer area can be easily provided below the thermocouple wire. (3)Since the lower end of the insulation rod accommodating the thermocouplewire is supported at a position higher than the wire holding portionfixing the portion of the thermocouple wire, a wider buffer area can beeasily provided. (4) Since a through hole is provided at the insulationrod stopper in a vertical direction and the thermocouple wire passesinto the through-hole, the thermocouple wire can easily maintain alinear shape in the vertical direction and a binding force received fromthe insulation rod stopper can be suppressed. (5) Since the thermocouplewire is fixed to the inside of the wire holding portion, thethermocouple wire within the buffer area can be prevented from tensileforce being received from an outside of the processing chamber. (6)Since the lower end of the insulation rod accommodating the thermocouplewire is supported by the insulation rod stopper, and a lower end of theinsulation rod stopper is supported at the bottom portion of theprotection tube holder, the thermocouple wire does not need to be bondedto the insulation rod using an adhesive, and the upper portion of thethermocouple wire can be easily supported. (7) Since a cross section ofthe insulation rod is circular, four holes are configured to penetratein the vertical direction, and the thermocouple wire for a plurality ofthermocouple can be accommodated into the four holes, a diameter of theprotection tube can be reduced.

Second Embodiment

A configuration of a temperature detecting apparatus of a secondembodiment of the present invention will be described with reference toFIGS. 6 to 8, in addition, since a configuration or processing operationother than the temperature detecting apparatus is the same as in thefirst embodiment, an explanation thereof will be omitted. As shown inFIG. 6, a thermocouple wire supporting portion 25 of the thermocoupleextends in a vertical direction (up and down direction), that is, asupporting position 25 of the thermocouple wire is provided at asubstantially middle portion of the thermocouple wire 21 and 22 in thevertical direction. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a support state ofa thermocouple in a second embodiment of the present invention. By thisconfiguration, upon heat expansion, an effect that autonomously enhanceslinearity at a portion lower than the supporting position 25 can beobtained by a self-weight of the thermocouple wires 21 and 22, anincrease in a frictional force with an insulation rod can be suppressed,and generation of an entanglement due to wire deformation according to achange over time can be suppressed. In addition, a distance from thesupporting position 25 to a thermocouple junction point 23 is shortenedat an upper portion of the thermocouple supporting position 25, and thusthe self-weight of the thermocouple itself is reduced and the frictionalforce with the insulation rod is reduced. Thus, generation of entangledwire deformation due to change over time can also be suppressed. Theseconfigurations will be described in detail below.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a temperature detectingapparatus in the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 a isa diagram in which a thermocouple between a reaction tube and a soakingtube is viewed from a center of the processing furnace. FIG. 7 b is avertical cross-sectional view that views the temperature detectingapparatus of FIG. 7 a from a side thereof. In the second embodiment, asshown in FIG. 7 a, there are two protection tubes of the thermocouple,that is, a protection tube 31 a and a protection tube 31 b. A lower endof each protection tube is supported by a protection tube holder 36.Since a structure of the protection tube holder 36 or a structure inwhich the protection tube holder 36 supports the protection tube is thesame as in the first embodiment, an explanation thereof will be omitted.

A thermocouple wire 21 of a plus side and a thermocouple wire 22 of aminus side are accommodated, and an insulation rod 32 for insulating thethermocouple wires 21 and 22 from each other is inserted in eachprotection tube 31. An insulation rod 32 a is inserted in the protectiontube 31 a, and an insulation rod 32 b and an insulation rod 32 c areinserted in the protection tube 31 b. As shown in FIGS. 7 a and 7 b, alower end of the insulation rod 32 a is inserted and supported in aninsulation rod stopper 33 a, and lower ends of the insulation rod 32 band the insulation rod 32 c are inserted and supported in an insulationrod stopper 33 b. Lower ends of the insulation rod stoppers 33 a and 33b are supported by a bottom portion of the protection tube holder 36.Materials of the insulation rod 32, the insulation rod stopper 33 andthe thermocouple wires 21 and 22 are identical to those in the firstembodiment.

In addition, protection tubes 31 a to 31 b are collectively referred toas the protection tube 31. Meanwhile, as described later, thermocouplewires 21 a to 21 c are collectively referred to as the thermocouple wire21, thermocouple wires 22 a to 22 as the thermocouple wire 22,thermocouple junction portions 23 a to 23 c as the thermocouple junctionportion 23, insulation rods 32 a to 32 c as the insulation rod 32,insulation rod stoppers 33 a to 33 b as the insulation rod stopper 33,and caps 34 a to 34 c as the cap 34.

In the second embodiment, the thermocouple is disposed on three zoneheaters of the processing furnace. The first thermocouple is fortemperature detection of the uppermost heater (U zone heater) of theprocessing furnace, the second thermocouple is for temperature detectionof the heater (C zone heater) immediately below the U zone heater, andthe third thermocouple is for temperature detection of the heater (Lzone heater) immediately below the C zone heater.

The first temperature detecting apparatus including the firstthermocouple is configured to include the thermocouple wire 21 a of theplus side and the thermocouple wire 22 a of the minus side, thethermocouple junction portion 23 a in which the thermocouple wires 21 aand 22 a are jointed at the front end portion thereof, the insulationrod 32 a for insulating the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a from eachother, the cap 34 a for closing the upper end of the insulation rod 32a, the insulation rod stopper 33 a, the protection tube 31 a, and theprotection tube holder 36. The second temperature detecting apparatusincluding the second thermocouple is configured to include thethermocouple wire 21 b of the plus side and the thermocouple wire 22 bof the minus side, the thermocouple junction portion 23 b in which thethermocouple wires 21 b and 22 b are jointed at the front end portionthereof, the insulation rod 32 b for insulating the thermocouple wires21 b and 22 b from each other, the cap 34 b for closing the upper end ofthe insulation rod 32 b, the insulation rod stopper 33 b, the protectiontube 31 b, and the protection tube holder 36. The third temperaturedetecting apparatus including the third thermocouple is configured toinclude the thermocouple wire 21 c of the plus side and the thermocouplewire 22 c of the minus side, the thermocouple junction portion 23 c inwhich the thermocouple wires 21 c and 22 c are jointed at the front endportion thereof, the insulation rod 32 c for insulating the thermocouplewires 21 c and 22 c from each other, the cap 34 c for closing an upperend of the insulation rod 32 c, the insulation rod stopper 33 b, theprotection tube 31 b, and the protection tube holder 36.

Referring to FIG. 7 a, the thermocouple junction portion 23 a for thefirst thermocouple is disposed at a position of the cap of a front end34 a of the insulation rod 32 a, the thermocouple junction portion 23 bfor the second thermocouple is disposed at a position of the cap of afront end 34 b of the insulation rod 32 b, and the thermocouple junctionportion 23 c for the third thermocouple is disposed at the position ofthe cap of a front end 34 c of the insulation rod 32 c.

Similar to the insulation rod of the related art shown in FIG. 13, thecross section of the insulation rod 32 a is elliptical, two holespenetrate the cross section, and the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22 afor the first thermocouple are inserted and accommodated in two holes.In addition, the insulation rod 32 b also has the same shape as theinsulation rod 32 a, and the thermocouple wires 21 b and 22 b for thesecond thermocouple are inserted and accommodated in the two holes. Inaddition, the insulation rod 32 c also has the same shape as theinsulation rod 32 a, and the thermocouple wires 21 c and 22 c for thethird thermocouple are inserted and accommodated in the two holes. Inaddition, as shown in FIG. 7 a, the third thermocouple is located at thefront (a central side of the processing chamber 204) in the insulationrod 32 b, and the second thermocouple is located at the rear.

FIG. 7 b is a side view of the protection tube 31 or the protection tubeholder 36 and a side view of the first thermocouple. FIG. 7 c is avertical cross-sectional enlarged view of a middle portion (a positionof the thermocouple wire fixing position 44 of FIG. 7 b) of the upperand lower ends of the insulation rod 32 a. FIG. 7 d is a verticalcross-sectional enlarged view near the thermocouple junction portion 23c of the third thermocouple located at an upper end of the insulationrod 32 c. As shown in FIG. 7 c, in the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a,an inside of the insulation rod 32 a extends in the vertical direction,and the thermocouple junction portion 23 a is installed on their upperend. A middle portion between the upper and lower ends of the insulationrod 32 a is provided with a fixing portion 41 that fixes thethermocouple wire 21 a to the insulation rod 32 a and supports thethermocouple wire 21 a, and a fixing portion 42 that fixes thethermocouple wire 22 a to the insulation rod 32 a and supports thethermocouple wire 22 a.

In the fixing portion 41, after a part of the insulation rod 32 a isremoved from the right side of the drawing and only a thermocouple wire21 a of a positive line is exposed, a fixing agent such as cement isinjected into the removed portion and fixed. By injecting and embeddingthe fixing agent without a gap, the thermocouple wire 21 a exposed byremoving is bonded and fixed to the insulation rod 32 a, or thethermocouple wire 21 a is deliberately fixed to the fixing portion 41and is supported at the fixing portion due to an increase in frictioncaused by being narrowed by the through-hole passing the thermocouplewire 21 a. In addition, as shown in FIG. 7 c, by slightly bending thethermocouple wire 21 a that is exposed once and fixed in a bent state,the thermocouple wire 21 a can be strongly fixed.

The fixing portion 42 is a portion in which the same process isperformed on the thermocouple wire 22 a of a negative line. The size ofthe fixing portions 41 and 42 in the up and down direction is set torange, for example, from 20 mm to 30 mm and the removed depth is set toa substantially central portion of the insulation rod 32 a, and thus anobjective of supporting the thermocouple wires 21 and 22 can besufficiently achieved. The fixing portion 41 and the fixing portion 42are set to have a distance, for example, about 50 mm, in the verticaldirection, but this is in consideration of the insulation rod 32 a notbeing bent when a removal process is performed.

In FIG. 7 a, the position of the fixing portion 41 or the fixing portion42 is slightly moved from a middle portion of the insulation rod 32 a tothe thermocouple junction portion 23 a side of a front end portion. Thisis to suppress a risk occurring in the related art. That is, since thethermocouple wire below a supporting position is set to the samedirection as a heat expansion direction and a self-weight direction, butthe thermocouple wire above the supporting position is set to thereverse direction, a risk of problems arising as in the related art isalso presented.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 7 d, in the thermocouple wires 21 c and 22c, an inside of the insulation rod 32 c extends in the verticaldirection, and the thermocouple junction portion 23 c is installed on anupper end thereof. A fixing portion 43 that fixes and supports thethermocouple wires 21 c and 22 c at the insulation rod 32 c is providedat the upper end of the insulation rod 32 c.

In the fixing portion 43, after a slit-shaped portion removed in aninner direction toward the drawing is provided for the front end of theinsulation rod 32 c, a fixing agent such as cement is injected andfixed. By injecting and embedding the fixing agent with no gap, thethermocouple wires 21 c and 22 c exposed by the removal are bonded andfixed to the insulation rod 32 c, or the thermocouple wires 21 c and 21c are deliberately fixed to the fixing portion 41 and supported at thefixing portion due to increase in friction caused by narrowing of thethrough-hole through which the thermocouple wires 21 c and 22 c pass. Asshown in FIG. 7 d, by slightly bending the thermocouple wires 21 c and22 c exposed and fixed in a bent state, the thermocouple wire 21 a canbe strongly fixed. A size and depth of the fixing portion 43 in the upand down direction is set to range, for example, from 20 mm to 30 mm,and thus an objective of supporting the thermocouple wires 21 c and 22 ccan be sufficiently accomplished.

As shown in FIG. 7 b, other ends of the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22 aare output from a lower end of the insulation rod 32 a in a verticaldirection and inserted into the wire holding portion 35 in thehorizontal direction to be connected to a temperature control portion(not shown) other than the processing chamber 204, in the protectiontube holder 36 of a hollow structure. In addition, FIG. 4 b illustratesonly the thermocouple wire 21 a. However, the thermocouple wires 22 a,21 b, 22 b, 21 c and 22 c are the same as the thermocouple wire 21 a.

After the thermocouple wire 21 a is output below from the lower end ofthe insulation rod 32 a in the vertical direction, the thermocouple wire21 a is changed in the horizontal direction, and is input from one end35 a of the wire holding portion 35 to the wire holding portion 35. Adistance from the one end 35 a to the bottom portion of the protectiontube holder 36 ranges from about 10 mm to 15 mm. In addition, a bufferarea 38 in which the thermocouple wire 21 d is not bound to theprotection tube holder 36 is formed in the protection tube holder 36upon heat expansion. Similar to the first embodiment, the insulation rodstopper 33 supports the bottom portion of the insulation rod 32 at aposition higher than the buffer area 38, and thus the inside thereof ispenetrated in the vertical direction, and the thermocouple wire 21 afrom the lower end of the insulation rod 32 a is guided to the bufferarea 38 through the through-hole.

Thus, a position 35 a of the wire holding portion 35 input by thethermocouple wire 21 a and a position of the lower end of the insulationrod 32 are set to be equal to or greater than about 10 mm from thebottom portion of the protection tube holder 36. Thus, the thermocouplewire 21 d is in contact with the bottom portion of the protection tubeholder 36 upon heat expansion, and binding depending on a force leadingto disconnection can be suppressed. In FIG. 7 b, within buffer area 38,the thermocouple wire 21 a is indicated by a solid line in a standbystate (500° C.) before and after the heat treatment, and thethermocouple wire 21 a is indicated by dashed line in a process state(1,200° C.) during the heat treatment. In addition, the thermocouplewire 21 a is fixed in the wire holding portion 35, similar to the firstembodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an expansion and contraction state of afirst thermocouple in the second embodiment of the present invention,FIG. 18 a represents a standby state (500° C.) before and after heattreatment, and FIG. 18 b represents a process state (1200° C.) duringheat treatment. When the standby state of FIG. 5 a comes to the heattreatment state of FIG. 8 b, the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a andthe insulation rod 32 a are heat-expanded, and the thermocouple wiresprotrude from the upper end of the insulation rod 32 a, such that thethermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a are lengthened by ΔL. When the heattreatment state of FIG. 8 b comes to the standby state of FIG. 8 a, thethermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a are heat-contracted, such that thethermocouple wires 421 and 422 are shortened by ΔL to thus return to anoriginal length.

In the second embodiment, in order to support the thermocouple wires 21a and 22 a at a middle portion of the insulation rod 32 a, up to thethermocouple junction portion 23 a upward from the supporting position25, an amount ΔL of protrusion of the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22 afrom the upper end portion of the insulation rod 32 a is generated uponheat expansion. Since the amount is so small compared to theconfiguration of related art, a probability of entanglement due to theheat expansion and heat contraction to be repeated is reduced. Inaddition, up to the thermocouple junction portion 23 a downward from thesupporting position 25, an effect of autonomously enhancing linearitycan be obtained by a self-weight of the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22a, and an increase in a frictional force with an insulation rod 32 a canbe suppressed.

As described above, the thermocouple junction portion 23 a is supportedat the upper end or the middle portion of the insulation rod 32 a, theinsulation rod 32 a is supported by the insulation rod stopper 33 a, andthe insulation rod stopper 33 a is supported by the protection tubeholder 36. That is, the middle portion of the thermocouple wires 21 aand 22 a is supported by the insulation rod 32 a or the like. Inaddition, in the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a, a portion output fromthe lower end of the insulation rod 32 a is in a state in which it isnot bound to the bottom portion or the like of the protection tubeholder 36 in the buffer area 38. Therefore, upon heat expansion, in thelower portion of the support portion of the thermocouple wires 21 a, and22 a, the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a maintain the linear shape bya self-weight and thus, partial bending can be suppressed. At the upperportion of the supporting portion of the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22a, the amount ΔL of protrusion of the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22 afrom the upper end portion of the insulation rod 32 a is reduced,compared to the related art. As a result, a large frictional forcegenerated between the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a and theinsulation rod 32 a can be suppressed and disconnection of thethermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a can be suppressed. In addition, alinear expansion coefficient of the insulation rod 32 a is adopted to besmaller than those of the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a and thus achange in the position, that is, a change in a temperature measurementposition, of the thermocouple junction portion 23 a due to heatexpansion can be reduced to be smaller than that of the related art.

According to the second embodiment, in addition to the effects (1) to(7) of the first embodiment, at least one of the following effects (8)to (11) can be obtained. (8) The thermocouple wire is fixed andsupported at a middle portion in the vertical direction thereof, and abuffer area is provided below the thermocouple wire. In addition, in astate in which the lower portion of the thermocouple wire is not boundto other members, for example, the bottom portion or the like of theprotection tube holder, the thermocouple wire of the lower portion ofthe middle portion can maintain a linear shape by a self-weight andthus, partial bending can be suppressed and disconnection of thethermocouple wire can be suppressed. In addition, bending of thethermocouple wire of the lower portion of the middle portion by theself-weight can be suppressed more than in the related art. (9) When thethermocouple wire is fixed to the upper portion or the middle portion ofthe insulation rod, since a part of the insulation rod is removed, andan adhesive such as cement is injected into the removed part, thethermocouple wire can be easily fixed to the insulation rod. (10) Whenthe thermocouple wire is fixed to the cut portion of the insulation rod,since the thermocouple wire is configured to be fixed by bending thethermocouple wire exposed to the cut portion and injecting the adhesivein a bent state, the thermocouple wire may be securely fixed to theinsulation rod. (11) Since a position fixing the thermocouple wire atthe insulation rod is set to a position moved from the middle portion ofthe insulation rod to the front end side, bending of the thermocouplewire upward from the fixing position can be suppressed more.

Third Embodiment

A configuration of a temperature detecting apparatus of a thirdembodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11. In thisembodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, a thermocouple wire supporting portion26 of a thermocouple to extend in a vertical direction (up and downdirection) is provided at an upper end of the thermocouple wires 21 and22 and at the supporting position, and the upper end of the thermocouplewires 21 and 22 and the thermocouple junction portion 23 is fixed andsupported at an insulation rod by an adhesive such as cement. By thisconfiguration, upon heat expansion, an effect of autonomously enhancinglinearity at a portion lower than a supporting position 25 can beobtained by a self-weight of the thermocouple wires 21 and 22, anincrease in a frictional force with an insulation rod can be suppressed,and generation of entangled wire deformation due to a change over timecan be suppressed. These configurations will be described in detailbelow.

A difference between the third embodiment and the first embodiment inthe substrate processing apparatus is only a method of supporting thethermocouple wire. That is, in the first embodiment, the upper end ofthe thermocouple wire is supported at an upper end of a wall betweenthrough-holes of the insulation rod. However, in the third embodiment,the upper end of the thermocouple wire is fixed and supported at theinsulation rod by an adhesive. Since a configuration or substrateprocessing operation other than the temperature detecting apparatus isthe same as in the first embodiment, an explanation will be omitted.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a temperature detectingapparatus in a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 a is adiagram in which a thermocouple between a reaction tube and a soakingtube is viewed from a center of a processing furnace.

FIG. 10 b is a vertical cross-sectional view of the temperaturedetecting apparatus of FIG. 10 a from a side thereof. FIG. 11 is ahorizontal sectional view along line A-A of FIG. 10 a. In addition, inthe third embodiment, similar to the first embodiment, there are threeprotection tubes of the thermocouple, that is, a protection tube 31 a, aprotection tube 31 b, and a protection tube 31 c. Although there arefirst to fifth thermocouples, for a clear and concise explanation, onlythe protection tube 31 a is shown, and matters regarding the protectiontube 31 a are described.

A thermocouple wire 21 of a plus side and a thermocouple wire 22 of aminus side are accommodated, and an insulation rod 32 a for insulatingthe thermocouple wires 21 and 22 from each other is inserted in eachprotection tube 31 a (see FIG. 11). As shown in FIGS. 10 a and 10 b, thelower end of the protection tube 31 a is supported by the protectiontube holder 36. The lower end of the insulation rod 32 a is inserted andsupported in the insulation rod stopper 33 a. The lower end of theinsulation rod stopper 33 a is supported by a bottom portion of theprotection tube holder 36.

In the third embodiment, similar to the first embodiment, the firstthermocouple to the fifth thermocouple are also disposed at five heaterzones of the processing furnace. Similar to the first embodiment, thefirst thermocouple and the third thermocouple are disposed in theprotection tube 31 a. The first temperature detecting apparatusincluding the first thermocouple is configured to include a thermocouplewire 21 a of a plus side and a thermocouple wire 22 a of a minus side, athermocouple junction portion 23 a in which the thermocouple wires 21 aand 22 a are jointed at a front end portion thereof, an insulation rod32 a for insulating the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a from eachother, a cap 34 a for closing an upper end of the insulation rod 32 a,the insulation rod stopper 33 a, the protection tube 31 a, and aprotection tube holder 36. The third temperature detecting apparatusincluding the third thermocouple is configured to include a thermocouplewire 21 d of the plus side and a thermocouple wire 22 d of the minusside, a thermocouple junction portion 23 d in which the thermocouplewires 21 d and 22 d are jointed at a front end portion thereof, theinsulation rod 32 a for insulating the thermocouple wires 21 d and 22 dfrom each other, the cap 34 a for closing the upper end of theinsulation rod 32 a, the insulation rod stopper 33 a, the protectiontube 31 a, and the protection tube holder 36.

Referring to FIG. 10 a, the thermocouple junction portion 23 a for thefirst thermocouple is disposed at a position of the cap 34 a of thefront end of the insulation rod 32 a, and the thermocouple junctionportion 23 d for the third thermocouple is disposed at a middle portionof the insulation rod 32 a. As shown in FIG. 1, which is a crosssectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 10 a, similar to theinsulation rod in the first embodiment, the cross section of theinsulation rod 32 a is circular, four holes penetrate the cross section,and the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a for the first thermocouple andthe thermocouple wires 21 d and 22 d for the third thermocouple areinserted and accommodated in the four holes. The first thermocouple islocated at the front (a central side of the processing chamber 204) inthe insulation rod 32 a, and the third thermocouple is located at therear.

FIG. 10 b is a side view of the protection tube 31 a or protection tubeholder 36 and a side view of the first thermocouple and the thirdthermocouple. FIG. 10 e is a vertical cross-sectional enlarged view nearthe thermocouple junction portion 23 a of the first thermocouple locatedat the upper end of the insulation rod 32 a. FIG. 10 c includes FIG. 10h viewed from the front of the drawing by enlarging a correspondingpart, FIG. 10 f viewed from the top of a portion of FIG. 10 h, and FIG.10 g viewed from the left of a portion of FIG. 10 h.

As shown in FIG. 10 c, a slit shape removal portion 51 is provided in aninner direction toward the drawing. The thermocouple junction portion 23a is installed on the thermocouple wire 21 a in which the inside ofinsulation rod 32 a extends in the vertical direction, and the upper endof the thermocouple wire 22 a, and disposed on the removal portion 51. Afixing agent such as cement is injected into the removal portion 51. Thethermocouple wire 21 a, the thermocouple wire 22 a and the thermocouplejunction portion 23 a are fixed and supported at the removal portion 51of the insulation rod 32 a. By injecting and embedding the fixing agentwithout a gap, the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a exposed by removingare bonded and fixed to the insulation rod 32 a, or the thermocouplewires 21 a and 22 a are deliberately fixed to the fixing portion 41 andsupported at the fixing portion due to increase in friction caused bynarrowing of the through-hole through which the thermocouple wires 21 aand 22 a pass.

FIG. 10 d is a vertical cross-sectional enlarged view near thethermocouple junction portion 23 d of the third thermocouple located ata middle portion of the upper and lower ends of the insulation rod 32 a.FIG. 10 d includes FIG. 10 m viewed from the front of the drawing byenlarging a corresponding part, and FIG. 10 n viewed from the right of aportion of FIG. 10 m. As shown in FIG. 10 d, the thermocouple junctionportion 23 d is installed on the thermocouple wire 21 d in which theinside of the insulation rod 32 a extends in the vertical direction, andthe upper end of thermocouple wire 22 d. The insulation rod 32 a of aportion provided with the thermocouple junction portion 23 d is removed,while leaving a partial portion of the outer periphery of the insulationrod 32 a. The thermocouple wire 21 d, the thermocouple wire 22 d and thethermocouple junction portion 23 d are fixed and supported at theremoval portion 52 by an adhesive such as cement.

The size of the removal portions 51 and 52 in the up and down directionis set to range, for example, from 20 mm to 30 mm and the removed depthof the removal portion 52 is set to a substantially central portion ofthe insulation rod 32 a, and thus an objective of supporting thethermocouple wires 21 and 22 can be sufficiently accomplished.

As shown in FIG. 10 b, other ends of the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22a are output from the lower end of the insulation rod 32 a in thevertical direction and inserted into the wire holding portion 35 in thehorizontal direction to be connected to a temperature control portion(not shown) other than the processing chamber 204, in the protectiontube holder 36 of a hollow structure.

After the thermocouple wire 21 a is output below from the lower end ofthe insulation rod 32 a in the vertical direction, the thermocouple wire21 a is changed in the horizontal direction, and is input from one end35 a of the wire holding portion 35 to the wire holding portion 35. Adistance from the one end 35 a to the bottom portion of the protectiontube holder 36 ranges, for example, from 10 mm to 15 mm, similar to thefirst embodiment. In addition, a buffer area 38 in which thethermocouple wire 21 a is not bound to the protection tube holder 36upon heat expansion is formed in the protection tube holder 36. Similarto the first embodiment, the insulation rod stopper 33 supports thebottom portion of the insulation rod 32 at a position higher than thebuffer area 38 and thus, the inside of thereof is penetrated in thevertical direction, and the thermocouple wire 21 a from the lower end ofthe insulation rod 32 a is guided to the buffer area 38 through thethrough-hole.

Accordingly, a position of the wire holding portion 35 input by thethermocouple wire 21 a and a position of the lower end of the insulationrod 32 are set to higher than the buffer area 38. Thus, the thermocouplewire 21 a is in contact with the bottom portion of the protection tubeholder 36 upon heat expansion, and binding from a force leading todisconnection can be suppressed. In FIG. 10 b, within the buffer area38, the thermocouple wire 21 a is indicated by a solid line in a standbystate (500° C.) before and after the heat treatment, and thethermocouple wire 21 a is indicated by a dashed line in a process state(1,200° C.) during the heat treatment. In addition, the thermocouplewire 21 a is fixed in the wire holding portion 35, similar to the firstembodiment.

In the third embodiment, since the thermocouple wire 23 or the upper endof the thermocouple wires 21 and 22 is fixed and supported at theinsulation rod 32, up to the buffer area downward from the thermocouplewire supporting portion 26, an effect of autonomously enhancinglinearity can be obtained by a self-weight of the thermocouple wires 21and 22, and an increase in a frictional force with an insulation rod 32a can be suppressed.

As described above, the thermocouple junction portion 23 is supported atthe upper end or the middle portion of the insulation rod 32, theinsulation rod 32 is supported by the insulation rod stopper 33 a andthe insulation rod stopper 33 is supported by the protection tube holder36. That is, the upper ends of the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a arefixed and supported by the insulation rod 32. In addition, in thethermocouple wires 21 and 22, a portion output from the lower end of theinsulation rod 32 is in state in which it is not bound to the bottomportion or the like of the protection tube holder 36 in the buffer area38. Therefore, the same effect as the first embodiment can be obtained,and disconnection of the thermocouple wires 21 and 22 can be suppressed.

According to the third embodiment, in addition to the effects (1) to (7)of the first embodiment, at least the following effect (12) can beobtained. (12) When the thermocouple wire is fixed to the upper portionor the middle portion of the insulation rod, since a part of theinsulation rod is removed, and an adhesive such as cement is injectedinto the removed part, the thermocouple wire can be easily fixed to theinsulation rod.

Fourth Embodiment

A configuration of a temperature detecting apparatus of a fourthembodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 18 to 21. FIG. 18is a diagram illustrating a support state of a thermocouple in a fourthembodiment of the present invention. A difference between the fourthembodiment and the third embodiment in the substrate processingapparatus is only a structure supporting the thermocouple wire and otherconfigurations are the same as in the third embodiment. In the fourthembodiment, as shown in FIG. 18, substantially immediately below thethermocouple junction portion 23, the thermocouple wire 21 and thethermocouple wire are bent to expand to the outside and then an expandedportion A and an expanded portion B, which expand outward in ahorizontal direction, are formed in the thermocouple wire 21 and thethermocouple wire 22, respectively. A wire width formed by the expandedportion A and the expanded portion B is configured to be larger than ahole width formed by two through-holes in which the thermocouple wire 21and the thermocouple wire 22 are inserted. Here, the wire width may be amaximum distance in which outer peripheries of the expanded portion Aand the expanded portion B of the two thermocouple wires, which areconnected at the thermocouple junction portion 23, are formed above theupper end of the insulation rod 32, that is, the longest straight lineof straight lines in which outer peripheries of the two thermocouplewires between an upper end surface of the insulation rod 30 and thethermocouple junction portion 23, are connected in a horizontaldirection. The hole width may be an elliptical length diameter includingtwo through-holes in which the thermocouple wire 21 and the thermocouplewire 22 are inserted, and a distance of the longest straight line ofstraight lines in which outer peripheries (the circumference in theexample of FIG. 18) of the two through-holes are connected, morespecifically, a distance of the longest straight line of straight linesin which the circumferences of two circles that form a horizontalsection of two through-holes at the upper end of the insulation rod 32are connected in a horizontal direction.

Thus, since the wire width in the vicinity of thermocouple junctionportion 23 is larger than that the hole width, the outer peripheries ofthe thermocouple wire 21 and the thermocouple wire 22 are entangled inparts of the circumferences of two through-holes at the upper end of theinsulation rod 32, that is, are supported by the upper end surface ofthe insulation rod 32. For example, in the first embodiment describedabove, since the wire width is not configured to be larger than the holewidth, in a state in which the thermocouple junction portion 23 issupported by the insulation rod 32, a force is generated to thethermocouple junction portion 23 in the outside direction, due to thegravity of the thermocouple wire 21 and the thermocouple wire 22. Forthis reason, there is a need to increase the strength of thethermocouple junction portion 23, for example, the size of thethermocouple junction portion 23, such that the thermocouple junctionportion 23 to which the thermocouple wire 21 and the thermocouple wire22 are connected is not damaged. In contrast, in the fourth embodiment,since the wire width is configured to be larger than the hole width, ina state in which the thermocouple wire 21 and the thermocouple wire 22are supported by the upper end surface of the insulation rod 32, thegravity of the thermocouple wire 21 and the thermocouple wire 22 issupported at the upper end surface of the insulation rod 32 and thus aforce applied to the thermocouple junction portion 23 can be reducedmore than that of the first embodiment. In addition, when the substrateprocessing apparatus is manufactured and the thermocouple is assembled,even if the thermocouple wire is pulled below by mistake, the damage ofthe thermocouple junction portion can be suppressed. In addition, evenif a force is applied to a lower side of the thermocouple wire due tovibration caused by transportation of the substrate processingapparatus, the damage of the thermocouple junction portion can besuppressed.

As described above, a difference between the substrate processingapparatus of the fourth embodiment and that of the third embodiment isonly a structure of supporting the thermocouple wire. Thus, since theconfiguration or substrate processing operation other than thetemperature detecting apparatus is the same as in the third embodiment,an explanation will be omitted. FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating anexample of a structure of a temperature detecting apparatus in thefourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 19 a is a diagram inwhich a thermocouple between a reaction tube and a soaking tube isviewed from a central of the processing furnace. FIG. 19 b is a verticalcross-sectional view that views the temperature detecting apparatus ofFIG. 19 a from a side thereof FIG. 20 is a horizontal sectional view ofA-A section of FIG. 19 a. In addition, in the fourth embodiment, similarto the third embodiment, there are three protection tubes of thethermocouple, that is, a protection tube 31 a, a protection tube 31 b,and a protection tube 31 c. Although there are first to fifththermocouples, to make the explanation shot and clear, only protectiontube 31 a is shown in FIG. 19, and matters relating to the protectiontube 31 a is described.

A thermocouple wire 21 of a plus side and a thermocouple wire 22 of aminus side are accommodated, and an insulation rod 32 a for insulatingthe thermocouple wires 21 and 22 each other is inserted in eachprotection tube 31 a (see FIG. 20). As shown in FIGS. 19 a and 19 b, alower end of the protection tube 31 a is supported by a protection tubeholder 36. A lower end of the insulation rod 32 a is inserted andsupported in a insulation rod stopper 33 a. A lower end of theinsulation rod stopper 33 a is supported by a bottom portion of theprotection tube holder 36.

Also, in the fourth embodiment, similar to the third embodiment, thefirst thermocouple and the third thermocouple are disposed in theprotection tube 31 a. The first temperature detecting apparatusincluding the first thermocouple is configured to include a thermocouplewire 21 a of the plus side and a thermocouple wire 22 a of the minusside, a thermocouple junction portion 23 a in which the thermocouplewires 21 a and 22 a are jointed at the front end portion thereof, theinsulation rod 32 a for insulating the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22 aeach other, a cap 34 a for closing an upper end of the insulation rod 32a, a cover 37 for covering an outer periphery of the insulation rod 32 ain the vicinity of a thermocouple junction portion 23 d, the insulationrod stopper 33 a, the protection tube 31 a, and the protection tubeholder 36. The third temperature detecting apparatus including the thirdthermocouple is configured to include a thermocouple wire 21 d of theplus side and a thermocouple wire 22 d of the minus side, a thermocouplejunction portion 23 d in which the thermocouple wires 21 d and portion22 d are jointed at a front end portion thereof, the insulation rod 32 afor insulating the thermocouple wires 21 d and 22 d each other, the cap34 a for closing the upper end of the insulation rod 32 a, the cover 37for covering the outer periphery of the insulation rod 32 a in thevicinity of the thermocouple junction portion 23 d, the insulation rodstopper 33 a, the protection tube 31 a, and the protection tube holder36.

Referring to FIG. 19 a, the thermocouple junction portion 23 a for thefirst thermocouple is disposed at a position of the cap of the front end34 a of the insulation rod 32 a, the thermocouple junction portion 23 dfor the third thermocouple is disposed at a position of a cover 37 ofthe middle portion of the insulation rod 32 a. As shown in FIG. 20,which is a cross sectional view taken along A-A, similar to theinsulation rod in the third embodiment, the insulation rod 32 a iscircular, four holes penetrate through the cross section, thethermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a for the first thermocouple and thethermocouple wires 21 d and 22 d for the third thermocouple are insertedand accommodated in the four holes. The first thermocouple is located atthe front (a central side of the processing chamber 204) in theinsulation rod 32 a, and the third thermocouple is located at the rear.

FIG. 19 b is a side view of the protection tube 31 a or the protectiontube holder 36 and a side view of the first thermocouple and the thirdthermocouple. FIG. 19 c is a vertical cross-sectional enlarged view nearthe thermocouple junction portion 23 a of the first thermocouple locatedat the upper end of the insulation rod 32 a. FIG. 19 d is a diagramviewed from the top of a portion of the FIG. 19 c. As shown in FIG. 19c, the thermocouple junction portion 23 a is installed on thethermocouple wire 21 a in which the inside of the insulation rod 32 aextends in the vertical direction, and the upper end of thermocouplewire 22 a. In addition, two thermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a between theupper end surface of the insulation rod 32 a and the thermocouplejunction portion 23 a form an expanded portion outward in a horizontaldirection. As described in FIG. 18, a wire width formed by the expandedportions is configured to be larger than a hole width formed by twothrough-holes in which the thermocouple wire 21 a and the thermocouplewire 22 a are inserted. Thus, the thermocouple wire 21 a and thethermocouple wire 22 a are supported at the upper end of the insulationrod 32 a.

FIG. 19 e is a vertical cross-sectional enlarged view near thethermocouple junction portion 23 d of the third thermocouple located ata middle of the upper and lower ends of the insulation rod 32 a. FIG. 19f is a side view of FIG. 19 e. As shown in FIG. 19 e, the thermocouplejunction portion 23 d is installed on the thermocouple wire 21 d inwhich the inside of the insulation rod 32 a extends in the verticaldirection, and the upper end of thermocouple wire 22 d. The insulationrod 32 a of a portion provided with the thermocouple junction portion 23d is removed, while leaving a part portion of the outer periphery of theinsulation rod 32 a. At the removal portion 52, the thermocouple wire 21d and thermocouple wire 22 d form an expanded portion outward in ahorizontal direction. As described in FIG. 18, a wire width formed bythe expanded portions is configured to be larger than a hole widthformed by two through-holes in which the thermocouple wire 21 d and thethermocouple wire 22 d are inserted. Thus, the thermocouple wire 21 dand the thermocouple wire 22 d are supported at the lower end of theremoval portion 52 of the insulation rod 32 a.

The size of the removal portion 52 in the up and down direction is setto range, for example, from 10 mm to 30 mm and the removed depth of theremoval portion 52 is set to a substantially central portion of theinsulation rod 32 a, and thus an objective of supporting thethermocouple wires 21 d and 22 d can be sufficiently achieved. Acylindrical cover 37 for protecting the thermocouple junction portion 23d or the thermocouple wire 21 d, or the thermocouple wire 22 d is fixedand provided at the outside of the removal portion 52 so as to surroundthe outer periphery of the insulation rod 32 a. A material of the cover37 is made of; for example, alumina, similar to the cap 34. In addition,as shown in FIG. 19 b, other ends of thermocouple wires 21 and 22 arelocated in the protection tube holder 36 of the in a hollow structure,but configurations and operations in the protection tube holder 36 arethe same as these of the third embodiment.

The other configuration example of the temperature detecting apparatusin the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 21.FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a structure of another configurationexample of a thermocouple structure in the fourth embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 21 a is a diagram in which a thermocouplebetween a reaction tube and a soaking tube is viewed from a central ofthe processing furnace. FIG. 21 b is a vertical cross-sectional viewthat views the temperature detecting apparatus of FIG. 21 a from a sidethereof. This configuration example changes only the supportingstructure of the thermocouple wire in the temperature detectingapparatus (FIG. 7) of the second embodiment, and another configurationis the same as in the second embodiment.

In this configuration example, similar to the second embodiment, asshown in FIG. 21 a, there are two protection tubes of the thermocouple,that is, the protection tube 31 a and the protection tube 31 b. A lowerend of each protection tube is supported by a protection tube holder 36.Since structure within the protection tube holder 36 is the same as inthe second embodiment, an explanation will be omitted. A thermocouplewire 21 of a plus side and a thermocouple wire 22 of a minus side areaccommodated, and an insulation rod 32 for insulating the thermocouplewires 21 and 22 each other is inserted in each protection tube 31. Aninsulation rod 32 a is inserted in the protection tube 31 a, and aninsulation rod 32 b and an insulation rod 32 c are inserted in theprotection tube 31 b.

In this configuration example, similar to the second embodiment, thethermocouple is disposed on three zone heaters of the processingfurnace, respectively. The first thermocouple is for temperaturedetection of the uppermost heater (U zone heater) of the processingfurnace, the second thermocouple is for temperature detection of theheater (C zone heater) immediately below the U zone heater, and thethird thermocouple is for temperature detection of the heater (L zoneheater) immediately below the C zone heater. The configuration of thetemperature detecting apparatuses including each thermocouple is similarto that of the second embodiment. For example, the first temperaturedetecting apparatus including the first thermocouple is configured toinclude the thermocouple wire 21 a of the plus side and the thermocouplewire 22 a of the minus side, the thermocouple junction portion 23 a inwhich the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a are jointed at the front endportion thereof, the insulation rod 32 a for insulating the thermocouplewires 21 a and 22 a each other, the cap 34 a for closing the upper endof the insulation rod 32 a, the insulation rod stopper 33 a, theprotection tube 31 a, and the protection tube holder 36.

As shown in FIG. 21 a, the thermocouple junction portion 23 a for thefirst thermocouple is disposed at a position of the front end 34 a ofthe cap of the insulation rod 32 a. Similar to the insulation rod of therelated art shown in FIG. 13, the cross section of the insulation rod 32a is elliptical, two holes penetrates through the cross section, and thethermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a for the first thermocouple are insertedand accommodated in the two holes. The insulation rod 32 b or theinsulation rod 32 c also has the same shape as the insulation rod 32 a.

FIG. 21 c is a vertical cross-sectional enlarged view near thethermocouple junction portion 23 a of the first thermocouple located atthe upper end of the insulation rod 32 a. As shown in FIG. 21 c, in thethermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a, the inside of insulation rod 32 aextends in the vertical direction, and the thermocouple junction portion23 a is provided at the upper end thereof. The expanded portionexpanding outward in the horizontal direction is provided at thethermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a between the thermocouple junctionportion 23 a and the upper end surface of the insulation rod 32 a. Awire width formed by the expanded portions is configured to be largerthan a hole width formed by two through-holes in which the thermocouplewires 21 a and 22 a are inserted. Thus, the thermocouple wires 21 a and22 a can be supported by the upper end of the insulation rod 32 a and aforce applied to the thermocouple junction portion 23 a can be reduced.

According to the fourth embodiment, in addition to the effects (1) to(7) of the first embodiment, at least the following effect (13) can beobtained. (13) The expanded portion expanding outward in the horizontaldirection is provided at the thermocouple wires 21 a and 22 a betweenthe thermocouple junction portion and the upper end surface of theinsulation rod. Since a wire width formed by the expanded portions isconfigured to be larger than a hole width formed by two through-holes inwhich the thermocouple wire 21 and the thermocouple wire 22 areinserted, the thermocouple wire can be supported by the upper end of theinsulation rod and a force applied to the thermocouple junction portioncan be reduced.

In addition, it is obvious that the present invention is not limited tothe embodiments described above, and various modifications can bepossible without departing from the scope of the present invention. Inthe first embodiment described above, the upper end of the thermocouplewire is supported at the upper end of the wall between the through-holesof the insulation rod. However, as in the third embodiment, the upperend of the thermocouple wire may be fixed and supported at theinsulation rod through an adhesive. In addition, as described above,four through-holes of the insulation rod are used in the firstembodiment or the third embodiment, and two through-holes of theinsulation rod are used in the second embodiment. However thethrough-holes of different numbers may be used. For example, one throughhole of the insulation rod may be used, and the thermocouple wire of aplus side or the thermocouple wire of a minus side can pass through theone through hole. In this case, two insulation rods for plus and minuswill be needed for one thermocouple.

In addition, in the fourth embodiment described above, the expandedportion of the thermocouple wire is formed so as to have a slightly bentshape. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and forexample, the expanded portion may be formed so as to have a right anglebent shape. In addition, in the fourth embodiment described above, thethermocouple wire is provided with the expanded portion, and thethermocouple wire is supported at the upper end of the insulation rod bythe expanded portion. However, a supported body longer than a hole widthin a horizontal direction formed by two through-holes in which thethermocouple wire 21 and the thermocouple wire 22 are inserted may beprovided at the thermocouple wire between the thermocouple junctionportion and the upper end surface of the insulation rod. The supportedbody may be configured by bonding a rod-like object, for example, madeof alumina, to the thermocouple wire 21 and the thermocouple wire 22through an adhesive. In addition, in such a configuration, similar tothe configuration in which the expanded portion is formed in thethermocouple wire, a force applied to the thermocouple junction portioncan be reduced. In addition, the expanded portion is not formed for thethermocouple wire, and the thermocouple wire can be supported at theupper end surface of the insulation rod by reducing a space between twothermocouple wires to less than a minimum length that connects outerperipheries of the two through-holes. In addition, the thermocouple wirecan be supported at the upper end surface of the insulation rod bywringing or twisting the two thermocouple wires. In this case, the twothermocouple wires are isolated from each other so as to notelectrically short.

In addition, in the above-described embodiments, a process performed onwafers has been described. However, objects to be processed may besubstrates other than the wafers and may also be a hot mask or printedwiring substrate, an LED panel, a compact disk or magnetic disk, etc. Inaddition, in the embodiments described above, a case in which a verticalbatch-type hot wall device using the reaction tube and the soaking tubeis applied has been described, but the present invention is not limitedto thereof and a substrate processing apparatus in which the soakingtube is not used can be applied. In addition, the present invention canbe applied to a glass substrate such as an LCD manufacturing apparatusor another substrate processing apparatus as well as a semiconductormanufacturing apparatus. The substrate processing may be an exposureprocess, lithography, a coating process, etc., as well as a film formingprocess such as CVD or a PVD for forming an oxide film, a nitride film,a metal-containing film and the like.

This specification includes at least the following inventions. That is,the first invention relates to a temperature detecting apparatus. Thetemperature detecting apparatus includes: an insulation rod installed toextend in a vertical direction and including a through-hole in verticaldirection; a thermocouple wire inserted in the through-hole of theinsulation rod, the thermocouple wire including a thermocouple junctionportion at an upper end thereof and an angled portion at a lower end ofthe insulation rod; and a buffer area installed below the insulation rodand configured to suppress a restriction of a horizontal portion of theangled portion upon heat expansion, wherein an upper portion of thethermocouple wire or a middle portion in the vertical direction aresupported by the insulation rod.

As the second invention, the temperature detecting apparatus accordingto the first invention further includes a wire holding portionconfigured to fix a portion of the horizontal portion of the angledportion.

As the third invention, the temperature detecting apparatus according tothe second invention further includes a protection tube configured toaccommodate the insulation rod; and a protection tube holder configuredto support a lower portion of the protection tube, wherein the lower endof the insulation rod is exposed within the protection tube holderthrough a lower end opening of the protection tube, and the lower end ofthe insulation rod in the protection tube holder and the wire holdingportion are spaced apart from a bottom portion of the protection tubeholder by at least 10 mm.

As the fourth invention, the temperature detecting apparatus accordingto the first to third inventions further includes an expanded portionwhere the thermocouple wire between the upper end surface of theinsulation rod and the thermocouple junction portion expands outward ina horizontal direction.

As the fifth invention, in the temperature detecting apparatus accordingto the second to fourth inventions, the lower end of the insulation rodis positioned higher than the wire holding portion.

As the sixth invention, in the temperature detecting apparatus accordingto the fourth or fifth invention, the lower end of the insulation rod issupported by the insulation rod stopper, and a lower end of theinsulation rod stopper is supported by the bottom portion of theprotection tube holder.

As the seventh invention, in the temperature detecting apparatusaccording to the first to sixth inventions, the insulation rod includesfour of the through-hole in the vertical direction, and two pairs of thethermocouple wire pass through the insulation rod.

As the eighth invention, in the temperature detecting apparatusaccording to the first to seventh inventions, the thermocouple wire isfixed to the insulation rod by injecting an adhesive into a cut portionof the insulation rod.

As the ninth invention, in the temperature detecting apparatus accordingto the eighth invention, the thermocouple wire exposed through the cutportion is fixed by injecting the adhesive into the cut portion in abent state.

As the tenth invention, in the temperature detecting apparatus accordingto the eighth or ninth invention, the cut portion is disposed between amiddle portion and a front end of the insulation rod.

The eleventh invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus. Thesubstrate processing apparatus includes: a boat configured to stack andhold a plurality of substrates to be spaced apart from one another atpredetermined intervals in a vertical direction; a reaction tubeconfigured to accommodate the boat and process the plurality ofsubstrates held by the boat; a heating unit installed around thereaction tube and configured to heat the plurality of substrateaccommodated in the reaction tube; a temperature detecting apparatusconfigured to detect an inside temperature of the reaction tube; aprocessing gas supply unit configured to supply a processing gas intothe reaction tube; and an exhaust portion configured to exhaust a gasfrom an inside of the reaction tube, wherein the temperature detectingapparatus includes: an insulation rod installed to extend in a verticaldirection and including a through-hole in vertical direction; athermocouple wire inserted in the through-hole of the insulation rod,the thermocouple wire including a thermocouple junction portion at anupper end thereof and an angled portion at a lower end of the insulationrod; and a buffer area installed below the insulation rod and configuredto suppress a restriction of a horizontal portion of the angled portionupon heat expansion, wherein an upper portion of the thermocouple wireor a middle portion in the vertical direction are supported by theinsulation rod.

The twelfth invention relates to a temperature detecting apparatus. Thetemperature detecting apparatus includes; an insulation rod installed toextend in a vertical direction and including a through-hole in verticaldirection; a thermocouple wire inserted in the through-hole of theinsulation rod, the thermocouple wire including a thermocouple junctionportion at an upper end thereof and an angled portion at a lower end ofthe insulation rod; and a buffer area installed below the insulation rodand configured to suppress a restriction of a horizontal portion of theangled portion upon heat expansion, wherein the thermocouple wireincludes a supported portion between an upper end surface of theinsulation rod and the thermocouple junction portion, the supportedportion supported by the upper end surface of the insulation rod.

The second to eleventh inventions described above may be applied to thetwelfth invention.

As the thirteenth invention, in the temperature detecting apparatusaccording to the twelfth invention, the supported portion includes anexpanded portion where the thermocouple wire between the upper endsurface of the insulation rod and the thermocouple junction portionexpands outward in a horizontal direction.

As the fourteenth invention, in the temperature detecting apparatusaccording to the thirteenth invention, a horizontal width of theexpanded portion is greater than a maximum distance between outerperipheries of the through-holes in the insulation rod at the upper endsurface of the insulation rod.

The fifteenth invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus. Thesubstrate processing apparatus includes: a boat configured to stack andhold a plurality of substrates to be spaced apart from one another atpredetermined intervals in a vertical direction; a reaction tubeconfigured to accommodate the boat and process the plurality ofsubstrates held by the boat; a heating unit installed around thereaction tube and configured to heat the plurality of substrateaccommodated in the reaction tube; a temperature detecting apparatusconfigured to detect an inside temperature of the reaction tube; aprocessing gas supply unit configured to supply a processing gas intothe reaction tube; and an exhaust portion configured to exhaust a gasfrom an inside of the reaction tube, wherein the temperature detectingapparatus includes: an insulation rod installed to extend in a verticaldirection and including a through-hole in vertical direction; athermocouple wire inserted in the through-hole of the insulation rod,the thermocouple wire including a thermocouple junction portion at anupper end thereof and an angled portion at a lower end of the insulationrod; and a buffer area installed below the insulation rod and configuredto suppress a restriction of a horizontal portion of the angled portionupon heat expansion, wherein the thermocouple wire includes a supportedportion between an upper end surface of the insulation rod and thethermocouple junction portion, the supported portion supported by theupper end surface of the insulation rod.

The sixteenth invention relates to a method of manufacturing asemiconductor device in a substrate processing apparatus including: aboat configured to stack and hold a plurality of substrates to be spacedapart from one another at predetermined intervals in a verticaldirection; a reaction tube configured to accommodate the boat andprocess the plurality of substrates held by the boat; a heating unitinstalled around the reaction tube and configured to heat the pluralityof substrate accommodated in the reaction tube; a temperature detectingapparatus configured to detect an inside temperature of the reactiontube; a processing gas supply unit configured to supply a processing gasinto the reaction tube; and an exhaust portion configured to exhaust agas from an inside of the reaction tube, wherein the temperaturedetecting apparatus includes: an insulation rod installed to extend in avertical direction and including a through-hole in vertical direction; athermocouple wire inserted in the through-hole of the insulation rod,the thermocouple wire including a thermocouple junction portion at anupper end thereof and an angled portion at a lower end of the insulationrod; and a buffer area installed below the insulation rod and configuredto suppress a restriction of a horizontal portion of the angled portionupon heat expansion, wherein the thermocouple wire includes a supportedportion between an upper end surface of the insulation rod and thethermocouple junction portion, the supported portion supported by theupper end surface of the insulation rod, the method including rising:

accommodating the boat holding the plurality of substrates in thereaction tube;

heating the inside of the reaction tube to a predetermined temperatureusing the heating unit while detecting the inside temperature of thereaction tube by the temperature detecting apparatus;

processing the plurality of substrates held by the boat by supplying theprocessing gas into the reaction tube by the processing gas supply unitand exhausting the gas from the inside of the reaction tube by theexhaust portion; and

unloading the boat holding the plurality of substrates from the reactiontube.

What is claimed is:
 1. A temperature detecting unit comprising: avertically extending insulation rod installed in a protection member andhaving a through-hole therein extending in vertical direction; and athermocouple wire inserted in the through-hole of the insulation rod,the thermocouple wire including a thermocouple junction portionprotruding from an upper end of the insulation rod, an angled portionprotruding from a lower end of the insulation rod and a horizontalportion disposed a rear end of the angled portion elongated inhorizontal direction, wherein the horizontal portion is positionedhigher than a lowermost end of the angled portion.
 2. The temperaturedetecting unit according to claim 1, further comprising an insulationrod support portion supporting the lower end of the insulation rod, theinsulation rod support portion having a through-hole therein extendingin vertical direction and passing the thermocouple wire therethrough. 3.The temperature detecting unit according to claim 2, wherein the angledportion is disposed in a buffer area configured to suppress arestriction of the thermocouple wire protruding from the lower end ofthe insulation rod upon heat expansion.
 4. The temperature detectingunit according to claim 3, wherein the horizontal portion is disposed inthe buffer area.
 5. The temperature detecting unit according to claim 3,wherein the insulation rod support portion supports the lower end of theinsulation rod at a position higher than the buffer area.
 6. Thetemperature detecting unit according to claim 2, wherein the insulationrod support portion further comprises a notch portion in communicationwith the through-hole of the insulation rod support portion.
 7. Thetemperature detecting unit according to claim 6, wherein at least partof the notch portion is disposed in a buffer area configured to suppressa restriction of the thermocouple wire protruding from the lower end ofthe insulation rod upon heat expansion.
 8. The temperature detectingunit according to claim 2, wherein the protection member comprises aprotection tube extending vertically and a protection tube holder of ahollow structure supporting the protection tube.
 9. The temperaturedetecting unit according to claim 8, wherein a bottom portion of theprotection tube holder supports a lower end of the insulation rodsupport portion.
 10. The temperature detecting unit according to claim8, wherein the angled portion and the horizontal portion are disposed inthe protection tube holder.
 11. The temperature detecting unit accordingto claim 8, wherein a distance between the horizontal portion and abottom portion of the protection tube holder ranges from 10 mm to 15 mm.12. The temperature detecting unit according to claim 8, wherein theangled portion is disposed in a buffer area configured to suppress arestriction of the thermocouple wire protruding from the lower end ofthe insulation rod in the protection member upon heat expansion.
 13. Thetemperature detecting unit according to claim 1, wherein the upper endof the insulation rod supports the thermocouple wire.
 14. Thetemperature detecting unit according to claim 13, wherein an upper endof the thermocouple wire and the thermocouple junction portion are fixedto the upper end of the insulation rod by an adhesive.
 15. Thetemperature detecting unit according to claim 1, wherein the insulationrod further comprises three through-holes extending in the verticaldirection, and two pairs of the thermocouple wire pass through theinsulation rod.
 16. The temperature detecting unit according to claim15, wherein the insulation rod comprises a notch portion incommunication with the through-hole.
 17. The temperature detecting unitaccording to claim 16, further comprising a cylindrical cover installedat an opening of the notch portion.
 18. A substrate processingapparatus, comprising: a reaction tube configured to process a pluralityof substrates held by a substrate holding unit configured to stack andhold the plurality of substrates; a heating unit installed around thereaction tube and configured to heat the plurality of substratesaccommodated in the reaction tube; a temperature detecting unitconfigured to detect an inside temperature of the reaction tube; aprocessing gas supply unit configured to supply a processing gas intothe reaction tube; and an exhaust portion configured to exhaust a gasfrom an inside of the reaction tube, wherein the temperature detectingunit comprises: a vertically extending insulation rod installed in aprotection member and having a through-hole therein extending invertical direction; and a thermocouple wire inserted in the through-holeof the insulation rod, the thermocouple wire including a thermocouplejunction portion protruding from an upper end of the insulation rod, anangled portion protruding from a lower end of the insulation rod and ahorizontal portion disposed a rear end of the angled portion elongatedin horizontal direction, wherein the horizontal portion is positionedhigher than a lowermost end of the angled portion.
 19. A method ofmanufacturing a semiconductor device using a temperature detecting unit,the method comprising: accommodating a plurality of substrates in areaction tube to heat the plurality of substrates by a heating unitinstalled around the reaction tube; controlling an inside temperature ofthe reaction tube based on a temperature detected by the temperaturedetecting unit comprising: a vertically extending insulation rodinstalled in a protection member and having a through-hole thereinextending in vertical direction; and a thermocouple wire inserted in thethrough-hole of the insulation rod, the thermocouple wire including athermocouple junction portion protruding from an upper end of theinsulation rod, an angled portion protruding from a lower end of theinsulation rod and a horizontal portion disposed a rear end of theangled portion elongated in horizontal direction, wherein the horizontalportion is positioned higher than a lowermost end of the angled portion;and processing the plurality of substrates in the reaction tube.